Random thoughts and pondering - playing the waiting game!

May just might be a mystery…… 

 

 

18/4

I have my best hopes placed in the idea that we will be in Bhutan in May.

 

Given that we finally managed to get our apartment in June last year after a prolonged and frustrating four months of waiting, that actually means we have never experienced May in the capital.

 

If things go according to plan then we might just be in Bhutan in May this year and we have actually been waiting for that for a couple of months now too. 

 

That however means that we will have had to wait 23 months to know what living in PP in May involves, by then. 

 

“It’s a mystery to me

The game commences…”

Well the waiting game continues but here we go again.

 

April has actually been a scorcher, with incredible heat wave conditions across the region and we soon discovered that there can be several hours of no water in the middle of the day on a regular basis. Luckily, we were alerted to this prospect by an article in the Khmer Times and were grateful that we have lived in several places where this has been the case and thus responded promptly and had a tried and true coping strategy to follow. 

 

Add in, that Khmer New year water fights seem to have priority over households when it comes to the available supply, but this one  was the first for us in the capital and we loved the noise, the antics and the water bombings.

 

 Now the waiting for the rainy season begins in earnest as it will also ensure that we return to a more regular water supply and hopefully the end of the heat wave. 

 

Setting a challenge…….. 

 

19/4

 

I decided last night to make sure we did something productive to prepare to consult in Bhutan, to make the Aerie better packed up to walk away from at short notice and to purchase both personal and educational items to take with us as a daily challenge until we know dates and have visas.

And today we did just that. I completed the document on play-way I have been working on and decided to work on place-based next but I also acknowledged to myself that the real challenge will be phonics. And that is what my thoughts continually return to, so now I’m glad I collected a few resources and digital phonics references while we were in Kep.

 

We are hoping that the strategies and methodology we applied to teaching phonics to our little monks in Kep will once again prove to be both successful and fun in a classroom setting. Only time will tell how well they suit the Bhutanese scenario, however. 

 

We were also able to deal with the root bound Jasmine bush and repot it so that more of the terrace garden stands a chance of survival in our absence.

 

We went out on a mission to buy a policeman’s cap but the shop was closed or more likely not yet reopened after Khmer New Year, so I ended up with a backpack to use for school and hand luggage and some gifts. Pretty good start on this phase of “Bracing for Bhutan.”

Coming up the stairs more easily twice today has also reminded me that I need to add a daily inclusion of exercise to the new regime! I’m back to more diligently applying myself to the stretch and balance exercises prescribed by Hugo, now that swimming isn’t frequent enough to yield improvement in both range of motion and balance! It seems to be paying off too.

 

I’m actually feeling more positive than I have in weeks.

 

Learning to like me ……..

 

21/4

I’ve convinced myself for most of my life that I’m just too sensitive and I shouldn’t take things to heart so much but recently I’ve decided that there is no such thing as too sensitive!

 

Actually no one wants to be the lowest priority, or be kept waiting constantly, or feel they are being taken for granted or simply ignored. That’s not too sensitive. It’s normal. What’s the flip side? It’s being insensitive, indifferent, uncaring or unconcerned? Better to own your feelings and acknowledge them even if it’s only to yourself, I say.

 

Nope I’m sensitive. It’s a positive. That’s it.

 

I’ve also been constantly told that I’m ‘so organized.’ I’ve always thought that was positive but the statement has often been delivered in such a way that it sounds like a criticism or pseudonym for boring!

 

A long time ago I realized that it’s actually being mindful and I can thank Bhutan for that insight.

 

Mindfulness is a relatively new buzz word but I see so much mindlessness around me in the modern world that I am certain we would all do well to adopt a more mindful attitude to daily life.

 

I’m finally beginning to see myself in a more positive light. How many decades has that taken!